(Football news) Ecuador taught Qatar a footballing lesson as they went past the World Cup debutants with a comfortable 2-0 as two goals from Enner Valencia in the first half was enough for the first defeat in the opening match for a host nation in the tournament's history. Valencia scored an early penalty and then went on to added a well-taken header for the second goal in the 31st-minute to give the South Americans a commanding first-half lead as the Qataris looked overwhelmed by the occasion.

In the first half the scoreline would have been even worse for the hosts in front of 67,372 fans at the Al Bayt Stadium. The former West Ham striker Enner Valencia had a third-minute header disallowed for a marginal offside after Qatar goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb made a crucial error by charging down the player. The goal was initially given but after a lengthy VAR check it was deemed that when the ball fell to Michael Estrada, who had one foot ahead of the second-last defensive player Abdelkarim Hassan. The controversial call was quickly forgotten as al-Sheeb, who was having a torrid time on the pitch, tripped Valencia in the penalty as the Ecuadorian calmly dispatched the penalty in the 16th minute.

For his second goal, Valencia was unmarked in the box but he showed great technique to stoop above the Qatari defence and brilliantly put away Angelo Preciado's cross almost from behind him to head past the hapless al-Sheeb again. That goal virtually killed the game as the second half was played at a very slow pace, with many Qatar fans leaving before the end of the match. Despite summer camps in Europe, Qatar looked clueless and hardly conjured up any effort on goal. Almoez Ali had the best chance for Qatar at the end of the first half when he headed wide but he was later judged offside. Both sides now have to play Senegal and the Netherlands in the group stage, with Qatar's chances of picking up points looking slim based on this performance. On the other hand, Ecuador can dream of surpassing their best previous World Cup showing in 2006 when they subsequently reached the last 16

“Obviously this was not what we were hoping for," Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said. “There is no excuse, I want to congratulate our opponents Ecuador. There is a lot of room for improvement.
We did not play at our best level. Maybe the responsibility and the nerves got the better of us. We just have to let go and forget about it and be more competitive. We can do it."

"I dreamt so many times about winning this opening match. “It was a dream that I managed to score and help my team get the three points," Valencia said." We managed to score a couple of quick goals which helped us to get control of the game and win the three points … We think we can go very far and perform well."

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